"We must arrive at a stage where the (IAEA) board of governors totally close the file on Iran's peaceful nuclear activities and take this off the agenda," Hassan Rowhani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying by state media.

But he also asserted that "the international community has to accept Iran in the world nuclear club", adding that "the Islamic republic has the inalienable right to master its own enrichment cycle."

Rowhani, who has headed Iran's nuclear negotiations, was speaking on the eve of a meeting by the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog's board of governors that will include a progress report on Iran's cooperation with the body.

He said that during the meeting, there was just a "tiny risk" that Iran could be referred for possible sanctions from the UN Security Council -- a consistent demand by the United States -- amid continued criticism that the country is failing to live up to its pledge of greater transparency.

"So far we have succeded in foiling the US plot, and do not think the US is in a position to send our dossier to the Security Council," Rowhani asserted.

The official attributed Iran's ability to avoid serious sanction by signing up to tougher inspections to what he said had been a "national consensus". He said this had to continue if Iran was to see its file closed in Vienna.

However he acknowledged that the international community would have "difficulty accepting" Iran's eventual mastering of the entire nuclear fuel cycle.

WAR.WIRE